McCook's John Batty

John Batty was not a native of McCook, but was born in Alma, Neb., in 1914, the son of a dentist. The family moved soon after he was born to York, Neb., where his father took over a dental practice. Tragically, they were not to be long in York. In 1919 John's mother Anna passed away, and the next year his father died.

John was sent to McCook to live with his mother's brother, Harry Stewart and his wife, Edna (Yarger). John's brother, Paul, was sent to live with another aunt and her husband in a suburb of Chicago.

Harry Stewart was a train dispatcher and John remembered the April day he (age 5) arrived in McCook aboard Train No. 5, frightened and apprehensive of his new life, and walking with his uncle, up Main Street, past McCook's imposing new post office.

That fall, John started school at the old Valentine (East Ward) school. His kindergarten teacher was, Milicent Slaby, better known as the long-time Librarian at the old Carnegie Library.

In those days there was not nearly as much organized recreation for young people, and as a result, kids made up their own recreation. Marbles was a favorite game, as was "Shinny," a type of Field Hockey, played with appropriately curved tree branches, for hockey sticks.

A little later the neighborhood boys attached a barrel hoop to Henry Schneider's garage, which served as the goal for primitive, but very spirited neighborhood basketball games.

In 1925 John was in the first group of eager young boys to sign up when the new YMCA was opened on Main Street in downtown McCook. It was here that he took his first shower bath ("which marked the last time I ever took a tub bath," said John.) It was also at the Y that John learned to swim, an activity, which embraced his entire life. In those days swimming at the Y was strictly a segregated activity, as the rules of the Y called for boys to swim in the nude -- "skinny dipping."

John Batty was a member of the early McCook Junior College classes, on the upper floor of the Main Street YMCA. (This was the first major example of the partnership that existed between the Y and the McCook school system, a partnership that exists and thrives yet today.) Regardless of less than ideal conditions at the Y, the instruction he received was good, and John was able to enter the University of Nebraska Medical school in 1934, and graduated four years later.

John recalled that when he attended McCook JC the choral group was a principal recruiting tool for the college. John didn't consider himself much of a singer but liked the choral group because there were a number of very pretty girls in that class. On one recruiting trip, to the high schools at Elsie and Madrid, their bus broke down some miles from Hayes Center. They were able to phone for help at a nearby farm house, but rather than wait for another bus to come from McCook, John and a few others chose to walk the 10 miles into Hayes Center to wait for the bus at a local café. The walk turned out to be a huge success. They sang songs, laughed a lot---really had a good time. That adventure formed close bonds of friendship that lasted a lifetime.

After a residency in General Medicine at the University of Chicago Teaching Hospital, he joined a Clinic in Hibbing, Minn., for the princely salary of $300/month. Even though the salary was not large, in his third year he felt it was adequate, enough to marry his wife, Marjorie. (Marjorie's father had ice cream manufacturing plants in McCook, Holdrege, and Hastings in Nebraska.)

In 1942 John Batty enlisted in the U.S. Navy, and spent a year at the Naval Station at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. He later saw sea duty aboard a destroyer (DD-602) in the Central Pacific, and finished up his military career as a medical officer at the Marine Base at Camp Pendleton, before his discharge from the Navy in 1946.

Upon returning to civilian life, Batty looked at medical opportunities in several medical clinics in SW Nebraska before accepting a position with the Brewster Clinic and Hospital in Lexington. In August of 1947 Batty joined Dr. Shank at the McCook Clinic, along with Drs. Karrer and James.

Even though the doctors at the McCook Clinic were all Doctors of General Practice Medicine, the practice evolved so that each of the partners had a specialty. Drs. Shank and Karrer did most of the surgeries, Dr. James became known as McCook's "baby doctor," and Dr. Batty was known as the McCook's "heart doctor" John was serious about the causes of heart disease and was quite outspoken in warning his patients about the dangers of smoking and being overweight. He developed a reputation for fighting obesity in his patients.

In his first years John delivered very few babies, but later he became intrigued with the advantages of hypnotism in deliveries and developed a following among women who wished to use hypnotism in the delivery of their babies.

In speaking with Dr. Batty, it was interesting when he recalled a McCook patient's name from the past. Usually, he identified the person's principal ailment, which he referred to in long medical terms, such as "Oh, he suffered from acute pernicious anemia---a really intriguing case- Let's see, his name was John Smith".

Dr. Batty recalled the days when the clinic was located in the basement and ground floors of what is now the Mason Insurance Office on C Street. One time, a couple of boys came limping into the office, one with an arrow protruding from his abdomen. The two brothers had been horsing around and a hunting arrow ended up in the younger ones abdomen. Miraculously, the arrow had gone in cleanly, missing the bowel and all vital organs. The removal of the arrow required a good bit of patience and took some time, but with a minimum of dressing, the young fellow walked out of the clinic, and had no lasting ill effects.

When the Battys returned to McCook they moved into a house at 141 West O St., the only house available in that busy, postwar era. They were living at this location on a Sunday afternoon when their two boys, Johnny, age 6, and Steve, age 4 were involved in a sledding accident. A neighbor was pulling her daughter and Steve behind their grain truck. Johnny was in the bed of the truck with the girl's father when he must have fallen over the front of the grain truck bed and under it's wheels.

John was on the scene within minutes of the accident, but it was too late. It was immediately apparent that Johnny's injuries were fatal. John recalled the incident. Though it had been a very long time ago, the vision of the accident scene and his feelings at that moment were as vivid in John's mind eye as if the tragedy had happened only yesterday

After a long career in medicine, Dr. Batty retired in 1985. He may have retired from practicing medicine, but he had many varied interests and remained very active in the community. He was an active Rotarian, and a number of John's projects involved the Rotary Club. He was the instigator and active promoter of the popular "Travel and Adventure" series, which allowed area citizens to travel the world through the films and live descriptions from famed world travelers. He was the force behind the Rotary Walking Trail, which will eventually provide a walking and bicycle trail completely around the city.

For a number of years, John's flower boxes graced the Walking Trail. John badgered the city into installing watering stations at regular intervals along the trail, and regularly begged "end of season" plantings from the McCook nursery dealers for these flower boxes (for which he recruited Rotarians to tend.)

Dr. Batty, who loved grand opera, was a long-time supporter of the Community Concert Association, as well as a patron of the arts, both visual and listening. John was "an angel" to young artists. He filled his home with favorite paintings, to the extent that he ran out of wall space to hang more paintings and had to present displays of new works of art on the living room floor in front of the fireplace. It was very difficult for him to give away artworks, or place in storage his favorite paintings, which he referred to as "old friends."

Dr. Batty was a long time widower. He became a wonderful cook and prided himself on his jams and jellies (and vodka cordials), which he frequently used to delight his friends and neighbors. The only drawback, said son, Steve, with whom he lived, was that it was difficult to maintain normal weight, in the face of so many "gourmet" meals.

Dr. Batty had a longtime love affair with water. For many years he vacationed upon the waters of Grand Lake, in Colorado. He was among Southwest Nebraska's foremost sailors on local lakes and regularly won regional sailing races. He also spent many winters sailing the waters of the Caribbean, and even sailing in Mediterranean waters off the coasts of Italy and Yugoslavia with friends, Floyd Hershberger and Russ Kugler.

Dr. Batty looked back fondly on a lifetime of experiences, and even at age 93 his interests were many and so varied that he posed the question to this interviewer, "How could anyone be bored with life?"

Note: Dr. Batty finally left this world in January of 2013 at the age of 98 and his ashes can be found in the two places on this earth he loved most, McCook and Grand Lake, Colorado.

-- Source: Gazette archives